The train is no good, isn’t it?

Having gotten into this hackney cab with 2 female friends at the rank outside Central Station, we were subjected to a torrent of abuse throughout our journey by the driver.

Firstly we were told we were stupid for not standing in the correct place at the taxi rank, then he shouted at us for wanting to go to drop one of our group off at Sauchiehall Street.

Upon arrival at our first stop, he then inexplicably proceeded to swear and shout that we had told him the wrong destination and that he was trying to save us money. At this point, I asked him to stop so we could get out of the taxi as we were generally afraid of what he might do next. He would not let us out or pay for our journey so far so we could get out.

In the end, we alighted at St George’s Cross after more abuse from the driver. Once we had paid the full fare and got out of the taxi, he then shouted further abuse at us as we walked away, calling us a number of choice names … for simply wanting a lift up the road.

Had we been drunk or obnoxious, I could perhaps be more understanding, but we were 3 young sober women wanting to get home safely – and ended up being subjected to a terrifying ordeal at the hands of this man. In addition, the taxi looked in very poor repair and I have been unable to locate the name that was painted on the side of the cab to contact them directly.

I would appreciate it if you could investigate this taxi number and answer my complaint – I and my friends were genuinely in fear during our journey and I would like to ensure that no one else has to suffer this sort of treatment.

Would you believe less than an hour later, I had an email from the council asking for more details? They are going to be interviewing the driver and are “taking this matter very seriously”, given the nature of my complaint.

EDIT: The council are in fact taking it very seriously – they are sending out a photo for us to ID him! How unexpected. In the mean time, I would encourage anyone who’s had similar experiences to complain!

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One thought on “The train is no good, isn’t it?”

I’m glad that the Council are taking this seriously. I once got some verbal abuse from a bus driver. I complained and the bus company wrote to me apologising and saying that they would send the offending driver (who gave me his name when asked) on a training course. Whether that did any good, who knows, but I hope that your taxi driver is not given the chance to put anyone else through what you have gone through. It is absolutely awful.